FL
Florida House Bill H0485

Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0485 Compare Versions

OldNewDifferences
11
2-ENROLLED
3-CS/HB 485 2023 Legislature
2+
3+CS/HB 485 2023
44
55
66
77 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
8-hb0485-02-er
8+hb0485-01-c1
99 Page 1 of 8
1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
1111
1212
1313
14- 1
14+A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to veterans' services and recognition; 2
1616 amending s. 20.37, F.S.; creating the Division of 3
1717 Long-term Care within the Department of Veterans' 4
1818 Affairs; amending s. 292.11, F.S.; revising 5
1919 qualifications for employment of county and city 6
2020 veteran service officers; creating part III of chapter 7
2121 296, F.S.; creating the "Veterans' Adult Day Health 8
2222 Care of Florida Act"; providing purpose and 9
2323 definitions; providing for appointment of an operator 10
2424 and specifying qualifications, duties, and 11
2525 responsibilities; establishing a nondiscrimination 12
2626 policy of the program; providing for eligibility and 13
2727 priority of admittance; providing for participants' 14
2828 contribution to support; providing for audits, 15
2929 inspections, and operational standards of the program; 16
3030 creating s. 683.1475, F.S.; designating the week of 17
3131 November 11 of each year as "Veterans Week"; 18
3232 authorizing the Governor to issue an annual 19
3333 proclamation; providing an e ffective date. 20
3434 21
3535 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 22
3636 23
3737 Section 1. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (2) of 24
3838 section 20.37, Florida Statutes, to read: 25
39-ENROLLED
40-CS/HB 485 2023 Legislature
39+
40+CS/HB 485 2023
4141
4242
4343
4444 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
45-hb0485-02-er
45+hb0485-01-c1
4646 Page 2 of 8
4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
4848
4949
5050
5151 20.37 Department of Veterans' Affairs. —There is created a 26
5252 Department of Veterans' Affairs. 27
5353 (2) The following divisions, and bureaus within these 28
5454 divisions, of the Department of Veterans' Affairs are 29
5555 established: 30
5656 (c) Division of Long -term Care. 31
5757 Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 292.11, Florida 32
5858 Statutes, is amended to r ead: 33
5959 292.11 County and city veteran service officer. — 34
6060 (1) Each board of county commissioners may employ a county 35
6161 veteran service officer; provide office space, clerical 36
6262 assistance, and the necessary supplies incidental to providing 37
6363 and maintaining a co unty service office; and pay said expenses 38
6464 and salaries from the moneys hereinafter provided for. The 39
6565 governing body of any city may employ a city veteran service 40
6666 officer; provide such office space, clerical assistance, and 41
6767 supplies; and pay expenses and s alaries. A county or city 42
6868 veteran service officer must be a veteran as defined in s. 43
6969 1.01(14) who served as a member of the Armed Forces of the 44
7070 United States during a period of war, as defined in Title 38, 45
7171 U.S.C.; who served at least 18 months' active duty in the Armed 46
7272 Forces; and who was separated from such service under honorable 47
7373 conditions, or the surviving spouse of any such veteran. Any 48
7474 honorably discharged wartime veteran who was so discharged for 49
7575 service-connected or aggravated medical reasons before serving 50
76-ENROLLED
77-CS/HB 485 2023 Legislature
76+
77+CS/HB 485 2023
7878
7979
8080
8181 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
82-hb0485-02-er
82+hb0485-01-c1
8383 Page 3 of 8
8484 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
8585
8686
8787
8888 18 months of active duty; who completed a tour of duty other 51
8989 than active duty for training, regardless of the length of the 52
9090 tour; or who satisfied his or her military obligation in a 53
9191 manner other than active duty for training or reserve duty shall 54
9292 be eligible for employment as a county or city veteran service 55
9393 officer. Every county or city veteran service officer, in order 56
9494 to be eligible for employment as a county or city veteran 57
9595 service officer, shall have a 2 -year degree from an accredited 58
9696 university, college, or community college or a high school 59
9797 degree or equivalency diploma and 4 years of administrative 60
9898 experience. 61
9999 Section 3. Part III of chapter 296, Florida Statutes, 62
100100 consisting of sections 296.42 through 296.49, is created to 63
101101 read: 64
102102 PART III 65
103103 VETERANS' ADULT DAY HEALTH CARE OF FLORIDA ACT 66
104104 296.42 Short title. —This part may be cited as the 67
105105 "Veterans' Adult Day Health Care of Florida Act." 68
106106 296.43 Purpose.—The purpose of this part is to provide for 69
107107 the establishment of basic standards for the operation of 70
108108 veterans' adult day health care programs for eligible veterans 71
109109 in need of such services. 72
110110 296.44 Definitions. —As used in this part, the term: 73
111111 (1) "Contractor" means an entity responsible for the day -74
112112 to-day operations of an adult day health care facility or adult 75
113-ENROLLED
114-CS/HB 485 2023 Legislature
113+
114+CS/HB 485 2023
115115
116116
117117
118118 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
119-hb0485-02-er
119+hb0485-01-c1
120120 Page 4 of 8
121121 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
122122
123123
124124
125125 day care center as prescribed by 38 C.F.R. s. 59.160 or part III 76
126126 of chapter 429, respectively. The contractor may be a for -profit 77
127127 or nonprofit entity that operates the adult day health care 78
128128 facility or adult day care center under the direction of the 79
129129 executive director of the department. 80
130130 (2) "Department" means the Department of Veterans' 81
131131 Affairs. 82
132132 (3) "Director" means the executive di rector of the 83
133133 department. 84
134134 (4) "Operator" means the person designated to have and has 85
135135 the general administrative charge of an adult day health care 86
136136 facility or adult day care center. The administrator of a 87
137137 veterans' nursing home under s. 296.34 or the adm inistrator of 88
138138 the Veterans' Domiciliary Home of Florida under s. 296.04 may 89
139139 serve as the operator if the adult day health care facility or 90
140140 adult day care center is collocated at an existing veterans' 91
141141 nursing home or the Veterans' Domiciliary Home of Florid a or is 92
142142 a freestanding facility. 93
143143 (5) "Participant" means an eligible veteran recipient of 94
144144 basic services or of supportive and optional services provided 95
145145 by an adult day health care facility or adult day care center. 96
146146 (6) "Program" means a licensed facil ity operated by the 97
147147 department under part III of chapter 429. 98
148148 (7) "Veteran" has the same meaning as provided in s. 99
149149 1.01(14). 100
150-ENROLLED
151-CS/HB 485 2023 Legislature
150+
151+CS/HB 485 2023
152152
153153
154154
155155 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
156-hb0485-02-er
156+hb0485-01-c1
157157 Page 5 of 8
158158 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
159159
160160
161161
162162 296.45 Operator; qualifications, duties, and 101
163163 responsibilities.— 102
164164 (1) The director shall appoint an operator who shall be 103
165165 responsible for the overall operation of the program and the 104
166166 care of the participant or designate a contractor to perform the 105
167167 same duties. 106
168168 (2) The operator shall determine the eligibility of 107
169169 applicants for admission to the program in accordance with 108
170170 provisions of this part and, together with the director, shall 109
171171 adopt rules necessary for the proper administration of the 110
172172 program, including rules for the preservation of order and 111
173173 enforcement of discipline in the program. Rules governing the 112
174174 program shall conform as nearly as possible to the rules and 113
175175 regulations for comparable facilities of the United States 114
176176 Department of Veterans Affairs. 115
177177 (3) The operator position shall be assigned to the 116
178178 Selected Exempt Service under part V of chapter 110 unless the 117
179179 operation of the program is assigned to a contractor. The 118
180180 director shall give veterans' preference in selecting an 119
181181 operator, as provided in ss. 295.07 and 295.085 if the operation 120
182182 of the program is not assigned to a contractor. 121
183183 (4) Employees who fill authorized an d established 122
184184 positions appropriated for the program shall be state employees 123
185185 unless the operation of the program is assigned to a contractor. 124
186186 The department shall classify such employees in the manner 125
187-ENROLLED
188-CS/HB 485 2023 Legislature
187+
188+CS/HB 485 2023
189189
190190
191191
192192 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
193-hb0485-02-er
193+hb0485-01-c1
194194 Page 6 of 8
195195 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
196196
197197
198198
199199 prescribed in chapter 110. 126
200200 (5) The operator shall ad minister and enforce all rules of 127
201201 the program, including rules of discipline, and may dismiss a 128
202202 participant in the program for an infraction of the rules, 129
203203 subject to the approval of the director. 130
204204 296.46 Nondiscrimination policy of the program. —It is the 131
205205 policy of the state to admit residents into the program without 132
206206 regard to race, age, sex, creed, religion, national origin, or 133
207207 any other reason that would thereby create a practice of 134
208208 discrimination. However, consideration of an applicant's veteran 135
209209 status shall not constitute discrimination. 136
210210 296.47 Eligibility and priority of admittance. — 137
211211 (1) To be eligible for admittance to the program, the 138
212212 person must be a veteran as provided in s. 1.01(14) or have 139
213213 eligible peacetime service as defined in s. 296.02 an d must: 140
214214 (a) Be in need of adult day health care. 141
215215 (b) Be a resident of the state at the time of application 142
216216 for admission to the program. 143
217217 (c) Not owe money to the department for services rendered 144
218218 during any previous stay at a department facility. 145
219219 (d) Have applied for all financial assistance reasonably 146
220220 available through governmental sources. 147
221221 (e) Have been approved as eligible for care and treatment 148
222222 by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. 149
223223 (2) The operator may waive the residency requi rement for a 150
224-ENROLLED
225-CS/HB 485 2023 Legislature
224+
225+CS/HB 485 2023
226226
227227
228228
229229 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
230-hb0485-02-er
230+hb0485-01-c1
231231 Page 7 of 8
232232 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
233233
234234
235235
236236 veteran who is otherwise eligible under Florida law for 151
237237 admittance to a program. The waiver must be limited to a veteran 152
238238 who is a disaster evacuee of a state that is under a declared 153
239239 state of emergency. 154
240240 (3) Admittance priority must be given to eligible veterans 155
241241 in the following order of priority: 156
242242 (a) An eligible veteran who is a resident of the State of 157
243243 Florida. 158
244244 (b) An eligible veteran who has a service -connected 159
245245 disability as determined by the United States Department of 160
246246 Veterans Affairs, or was discharged or released from military 161
247247 service for disability incurred or aggravated in the line of 162
248248 duty and the disability is the condition for which adult day 163
249249 health care is needed. 164
250250 (c) An eligible veteran who has a non -service-connected 165
251251 disability and is unable to defray the expense of adult day 166
252252 health care and so states under oath before a notary public or 167
253253 other officer authorized to administer an oath. 168
254254 296.48 Participants; contribution to support. —The operator 169
255255 may, if there is room, admit to participation in the program a 170
256256 veteran who has sufficient means for his or her own support but 171
257257 is otherwise eligible to become a participant in the program, on 172
258258 payment of the full cost of his or her support, which cost and 173
259259 method of collection shall be fi xed from time to time by the 174
260260 operator. 175
261-ENROLLED
262-CS/HB 485 2023 Legislature
261+
262+CS/HB 485 2023
263263
264264
265265
266266 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
267-hb0485-02-er
267+hb0485-01-c1
268268 Page 8 of 8
269269 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
270270
271271
272272
273273 296.49 Audit; inspection; standards for the program. —The 176
274274 program shall be open at any time to audit and inspection by the 177
275275 Auditor General and the Office of Program Policy Analysis and 178
276276 Government Accountability, as p rovided by law, the department, 179
277277 and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and to any 180
278278 other audits or inspections as required by law to maintain 181
279279 appropriate standards in the program. The standards that the 182
280280 department shall use to regulate the op eration of the program 183
281281 shall be those prescribed by the United States Department of 184
282282 Veterans Affairs, provided that where the state's standards are 185
283283 more restrictive, the standards of the state shall apply. 186
284284 Section 4. Section 683.1475, Florida Statutes, is created 187
285285 to read: 188
286286 683.1475 Veterans Week. — 189
287287 (1) The week beginning with the Sunday preceding November 190
288288 11 of each year is designated as "Veterans Week." If November 11 191
289289 falls on a Sunday, "Veterans Week" begins on that day. 192
290290 (2) The Governor may annually issue a proclamation 193
291291 designating the week of November 11 as Veterans Week and calling 194
292292 upon public officials, schools, private organizations, and all 195
293293 residents of the state to commemorate Veterans Week and honor 196
294294 the men and women who answered the c all during times of war and 197
295295 peace to protect and preserve the treasured freedom of all 198
296296 citizens of the United States. 199
297297 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 200